Amazon not honouring offer of return for refund

SarahBDE

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some guidance on a consumer rights issue.

I bought a new iPhone from Amazon on 11 June 2024. From day one it has had a charging fault — it only charges after a reboot. I tried multiple cables but the problem persists.

Unfortunately, I didn’t contact Amazon until 4 June 2025. Customer Service initially offered a repair. I explained I rely on the phone for work and can’t be without it for the 2+ weeks they estimated. At that point I was offered the option of returning it for a full refund, and I specifically asked whether this was time-sensitive. They told me it wasn’t, so I tried a few more cables first. The issue continued.

In November, I contacted Amazon again to proceed with the return/refund, but was told that only a repair is available. They reviewed the chat from June and confirmed I had been offered a refund on return, but said the agent gave me incorrect information, and that repair has only ever been the only option they can provide.

A repair still isn’t workable for me: I’m self-employed, it’s my only phone, they can’t give a loan device, and they can’t confirm the repair timeframe beyond “a minimum of two weeks”.

I asked to escalate and was given the email customer-request-attachment@amazon.co.uk, but I’ve had no response from it. I’ve since emailed back and forth with cs-reply@amazon.co.uk but the replies are copy-and-paste and don’t address the actual issue.

My questions:

• Given they confirmed the refund offer was made, do they have to honour it even if it was “incorrect” information at the time?

• What is my legal position here, considering the fault was present from day one but I raised it late?

• Is there another email or escalation route I should try? The current one is going nowhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — thank you!

eskbanker

After all this time, you don't have the right to insist on a full refund, even though they suggested otherwise, so if the repair is something you feel is unworkable then I suspect the most pragmatic response will be to live with it - by definition, if you've been using the phone for 18 months and don't feel you can manage without it, the fault isn't critical?

MyRealNameToo

SarahBDE said:

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some guidance on a consumer rights issue.

I bought a new iPhone from Amazon on 11 June 2024. From day one it has had a charging fault — it only charges after a reboot. I tried multiple cables but the problem persists.

Unfortunately, I didn’t contact Amazon until 4 June 2025. Customer Service initially offered a repair. I explained I rely on the phone for work and can’t be without it for the 2+ weeks they estimated. At that point I was offered the option of returning it for a full refund, and I specifically asked whether this was time-sensitive. They told me it wasn’t, so I tried a few more cables first. The issue continued.

In November, I contacted Amazon again to proceed with the return/refund, but was told that only a repair is available. They reviewed the chat from June and confirmed I had been offered a refund on return, but said the agent gave me incorrect information, and that repair has only ever been the only option they can provide.

A repair still isn’t workable for me: I’m self-employed, it’s my only phone, they can’t give a loan device, and they can’t confirm the repair timeframe beyond “a minimum of two weeks”.

I asked to escalate and was given the email customer-request-attachment@amazon.co.uk, but I’ve had no response from it. I’ve since emailed back and forth with cs-reply@amazon.co.uk but the replies are copy-and-paste and don’t address the actual issue.

My questions:

• Given they confirmed the refund offer was made, do they have to honour it even if it was “incorrect” information at the time?

• What is my legal position here, considering the fault was present from day one but I raised it late?

• Is there another email or escalation route I should try? The current one is going nowhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — thank you!

They dont have to honour the wrong advice from another member of staff, there can be an argument that if you had sustained additional losses then potentially there could be some liability but from what you say you didnt suffer anything. 

If the phone is so critical for you then why dont you have a backup? What's the plan if it fails one day? 

Its really your choice if you continue living with it as it is and as you have for 18 months or send it in for repair and buy a budget phone to just tied you over whilst its away and keep it for emergencies if your main phone ever breaks, is stolen etc. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Couple of things OP, if you have purchased for work it's unlikely you'll be a consumer and they are entitled to repair.

Incorrect advice is poor but Amazon CS is overseas and generally not that great. 

Not sure what you need the phone for, plenty of cheap ones for calls and texts, if you need other things modern smartphones can do then an older second hand model shouldn't set you back too much.

Amazon are probably offering a repair under warranty but if you were a consumer and they wasn't they could ask you to show the phone is "faulty" rather than the matter being down to misuse or such so accepting a no quibble repair isn't a bad option for you overall  

Ayr_Rage

If it had a fault from day one it should have been returned as faulty straight away.

You've left it far too long and your only option is to take the repair option and buy yourself a cheap spare to use whilst it's away.